The Relationship Between Perceived Criticism And Psychotherapy Outcome In A Sample Of Outpatient Adolescents

Expressed emotion (EE), purportedly hostile, critical, and emotionally over-involved attitudes in relationships, has been implicated as a predictor of adolescent psychological outcomes (Peris & Miklowitz, 2015). An underlying construct of EE, perceived criticism (PC), assesses disapproval in relationships using the Perceived Criticism Measure (PCM; Hooley & Teasdale, 1989) and has been implicated as a predictor of clinical outcomes (Hooley & Teasdale, 1989; Masland & Hooley, 2015; Renshaw, Chambless, & Steketee, 2001; Renshaw, Chambless, & Steketee, 2003) with higher levels of PC predicting worse outcomes in adults (Renshaw, 2008). However, studies have yet to examine the PCM’s predictive ability with adolescents, its stability over treatment, and the relationship between PCM item 3 assessing upset from criticism and outcome. The purpose of this study is to examine these relationships in an adolescent sample. Results suggest the level of PC and upset from criticism remained stable over treatment while YOQ-30 scores decreased on average. Also, the level of PC was not related to YOQ-30 scores over treatment. Results suggest upset from criticism predicted YOQ-30 scores with greater upset relating to higher YOQ-30 scores. These findings suggest the PCM can help identify treatment targets and is potentially useful for predicting teens’ psychotherapy response.